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I carry my soaking wet mate behind Sam, past the young dragon in green scrubs at the check-in desk. The nursing staff stop what they’re doing as we pass. My dragon wants every male in here to keep his eyes to himself. I growl at them until they go back to work. I set her down on the bed in the exam room Sam holds open for us.
“Can someone bring a fresh set of scrubs?” Sam calls down the hall.
“I’m fine, really,” Aya insists.
“Nothing wrong with a good look-over.” Sam takes the scrubs from a male nurse and shuts the door with his foot. He drops them in her lap.
He searches her neck for a claim mark, then mine. “Still haven’t completed the mate bond yet?” He raises an eyebrow at me.
“I’m waiting for her full heat cycle, if you must know,” I tell him.
Aya cringes. “Could you please not speak as if I’m not sitting right here with you both?”
Sam faces her. “My apologies.” He listens to her heart and checks her pupils. When he takes her wrist for a pulse, I grumble, even though it’s Uncle Sam.
He pulls out a tablet to chart. “She’s fine,” he announces. “Typical wolf shifter patterns.” He taps at the screen. “Though your temp is slightly elevated.”
He glances up and finds me waiting. “That means your heat cycle is close. Confirming what you already suspected.”
Her heat could come tonight. My dick goes hard in my pants with my uncle in the room, and I couldn’t care less. When I smile, I don’t bother hiding how bad I want to claim her. I’ve been ready for her since we were young. She catches me at it and narrows her eyes.
“I really wish you didn’t know that,” Aya mutters.
“You are already a member of Ash Clan.” Sam keeps charting. “I can smell it, Aya.”
She frowns at him. “Well, I wish you didn’t.”
Sam makes small talk while Aya sulks. “When are you coming back to the clan?” he asks me.
I shrug. “I don’t know if I am.”
Aya snaps her head up. “What? You have to go back home. That’s where I’m raising my hatchling-pups. I am not raising them on the community lands.”
My dragon preens at that. She hears herself and hides her face in her hands. She’s been planning our future without telling me. If I had my way, I’d fly her home to Ash Clan tonight and get started on our little ones.
Sam sets the tablet down. “She’s fine,” he repeats. “Most likely the Mer supplied oxygen for her once it got low. They can do that, share their air with surface dwellers they trust.”
Water drips from Aya’s braid when she nods. “They have a tight relationship with House of Zorah, but they’ve been out of touch for centuries. They were so happy to see that I am the daughter of Levi.”
“And they have strong ties to Stormscale as well.” Sam tips his chin at me. “But I’ll let Tyrion do the explaining there.”
A blue-gold portal rips open in the middle of the exam room, and Aya groans.
Angie steps out with Jacob and Levi behind her. She drops the light shield around Levi when he’s through. He hurries over to clasp my mate’s face in his hands. “I got here as soon as I could.”
“Dad, stop.” Aya pushes at his wrists. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t care. You’re still my baby.” He kisses her forehead, then glares at me until my dragon wants to back down. “One night, and you already—”
I ignore the urge and get in Levi’s face, ready for another fight. I can smell the challenge on his wolf. He doesn’t think I can protect Aya. He’s here to drag her back to House of Zorah.
Angie shrugs and walks over to the bed. She pats Aya’s wet head. “See? She’s fine.”
Sam hands Aya some towels for her hair. Levi and I are standing nose to nose, but Aya pays us no mind. She wrings her braid out into one. “I met a Mer pod today,” she says. “They were so nice.”
“They could have drowned you,” I hiss.
“But they didn’t, so shut up,” she hisses back.
